Round Ireland 2013 Victor's Press Release

[colcreate]

You could almost forgive the general public for reading that it was a Mazda powered RIB that WON the RACE. Due to the total lack of reference to one of the key components of this winning combination the YAMAHA engine! Or was that the intention of these hyped reports?

[donegaldan]

RNLI Fenit Lifeboat page
Trent ALB Lifeboat launched to assist 3 ribs, and one was taken under tow.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fenit...n/233752705907

[freespirit3]

It's sad when commercial promotion takes over what was an amazing challenge, to my understanding it was never a race, it was a round Ireland challenge, as the boats were in groups they were no winners.

As you say winners have to finish under their own steam and not be towed by a fellows boat which I believe was a very strong boat with a strong brand name.

It's was mentioned early the winner was a man who got thrown out of his privately entered boat, sat in treacherous water, got recovered, wanted to rejoin, went back fixed the rib then re attempted the journey and re joined the rest of the CHALLENGE team.

No race, no race classes, this was about endurance and boats have to finish as they started and not be towed and claim they never had a problem.

Sad as the idea was to raise money for charity and prove the ability of some of the smaller boats under reasonable budgets.

[Rogue Wave]

Originally Posted by MustRib

were we racing then?
did I miss something?
falling in seems to get you quite a bit of publicity I noticed

I do get it though, you do have to return something to the sponsor who gave you use of the car and whatever else.

when I was driving your boat in the lumpy sea alongside Hugo and Tommy and the Mad toobs (Hi Guys) your boat won. Bad Boy Stu Oh yeah I don;t remember Tommy's boat havong Mazda written down the side of it. Butr i am old and I did have a lot of Salt water in my eyes

[MustRib]

Stu - thats down to you ...... you do that for a living!

[Rogue Wave]

Originally Posted by HUMBER P4VWL

What a load of fiction. Do they actually believe the cr*p they're writing?!

Kind of sours the feel of what I thought was a great event and challenge considering the weather.
.

Agreed but I don't think that these guys believe what they are writing they just under stand that a large proportion of the population are below average intelligence and they are hoping that those people will believe the bull and give them money for whatever they are selling?

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Rogue Wave

they just under stand that a large proportion of the population are below average intelligence?

50% of the population have below average intelligence so they might be on to something there.

[M.Thornton]

Originally Posted by willk

They are Press Releases, aren't they?

One

Two

Three

Well done!

Damm it! We must have been in the pub when the starting cannon was fired

[bedajim]

Originally Posted by jumpinjack

te option three in afloat..... Several reader comments offer congratulations as well lol......

Only facts ?

[paulbrown22]

I was stuck in the office last night, so thought I might as well liven up my evening with an email to Mazda's director of PR... His response:

Dear Mr Brown

Thank you for your e-mail and comments.

At Mazda we look to sponsor sports and people who ‘defy convention’ in line with our core brand attributes, for instance in the past we have sponsored the World aerobatic championships and the British Aerobatic Association, the British Triathlon Association, Tim Don, military charities working to rehabilitate wounded soldiers and currently we sponsor Shelley Rudman, the World Skeleton bob sleigh champion. We felt Tom, with his background being the youngest person ever to circumnavigate Britain along with his powerboat racing, fitted that profile. The boat is also a good fit, it is a bespoke design, environmentally friendly, sporty and driver friendly and lightweight, all attributes that fit with our sixth generation cars.

Southampton Boat Show has highlighted this boat as ground-breaking and has included it in its featured boats. There are a number of articles where media have examined the boat and concluded that is a leader in both design and latest technology.

With regard to the rescue by the RNLI and the completion of a leg by road I understand that a leg was cancelled by the coastguard who came out as part of maritime safety to shepherd all boats in to safety. As a result all competitors continued to Dingle by road, a stretch of road for 30 miles as the organisers would not allow any boat to go to sea due to the extreme and dangerous weather conditions. One of my team was on the event and confirmed this.

I am sorry you feel this was a ‘desperate attempt at publicity’ but we felt that the challenge was worthy of greater awareness as it is a daunting challenge in a small boat and would be of interest to a wider audience, not just those whose hobby is boating or sailing. Minority hobbies and sports struggle to get the oxygen of publicity and it sometimes takes sponsors from other industries to assist in communicating the events, sports, activities to gain traction outside of the publications specific to the sport, activity or hobby.

I would be interested to hear your views.

[Poly]

wow, so its mazda who are deluded... ...actually given what it cost me for some small bits of plastic the last time i owned a mazda i'm not really surprised!

[Bushrider]

At the point when the leg was "cancelled" by the organizer due to bad weather and all boats were transported over land I was probably also looking for shelter at the local pub like all others and missed this important safety message ..

[Boats&Outboards]

Still no word from Tom though ?

www.BoatsandOutboards4Sale.co.uk

[MustRib]

before Tom gets totally villified here...
I want to point out that he raised over £48K for charity.
That is a huge sum for a short event.

[wiLlfish]

Riinnnnng riinnnngggg rriiinng riinnnggg

'Aloo yung tomus. dis iz mistir mazdar. a likkul berd tels mee yor grownd braykin desine iz bein toed bi de fkin lyfebote. Wtfs gowin onn.'

'Ello mi luverly. fings arnt wot thay seem. ther iz a bote inn frunt ov uz which appens too bee orinje an bloo. wee notist he woz avin a bitt ov trubbul inn theez bigg waives sow wee putt a lyne onn iz stirn too giv im a bitt ov stabbility.

wee arr bein heeros an actin az a see drowgue. iyll stil be ferst innto de arber tho'.

'Nevver mynd orl dat bollix. gett mi naim ofn yor fkin bote an stikk annuver wan onn.

toyoter orr onda shud doo nisely.

Nuffink lyke a bitt ov reebrandin'

[HUMBER P4VWL]

Originally Posted by wiLlfish

Riinnnnng riinnnngggg rriiinng riinnnggg

'Aloo yung tomus. dis iz mistir mazdar. a likkul berd tels mee yor grownd braykin desine iz bein toed bi de fkin lyfebote. Wtfs gowin onn.'

'Ello mi luverly. fings arnt wot thay seem. ther iz a bote inn frunt ov uz which appens too bee orinje an bloo. wee notist he woz avin a bitt ov trubbul inn theez bigg waives sow wee putt a lyne onn iz stirn too giv im a bitt ov stabbility.

wee arr bein heeros an actin az a see drowgue. iyll stil be ferst innto de arber tho'.

'Nevver mynd orl dat bollix. gett mi naim ofn yor fkin bote an stikk annuver wan onn.

toyoter orr onda shud doo nisely.

Nuffink lyke a bitt ov reebrandin'

The whole event seemed really impressive in terms of those involved battling the seas.....

However the organisers seem to have put a really sour note to the event. What with suddenly claiming "race victory" and the mysterious "MAZDA" branding being somewhat ghost like.

[willk]

Originally Posted by MustRib

before Tom gets totally villified here...
I want to point out that he raised over £48K for charity.
That is a huge sum for a short event.

That IS a huge sum, very impressive, even more impressive than his race, I mean, Challenge victory. Do we know who the lucky charities are?

[whisper]

This is all such a shame, I thought this all started off as under 5m challenge?

I know that some may get sponsorship but surely the real heros in all this are the ones that funded themselves and especially the ones under 5m.

Trevor G and his son Rick made it round in a 1990 Searider 4.7, they did all the work on their rib themselves inc reflowing the hull and fitting console, suspension seats and outboard and rigged it all too. Now this is a real story

[HUMBER P4VWL]

Originally Posted by whisper

This is all such a shame, I thought this all started off as under 5m challenge?

I know that some may get sponsorship but surely the real heros in all this are the ones that funded themselves and especially the ones under 5m.

Trevor G and his son Rick made it round in a 1990 Searider 4.7, they did all the work on their rib themselves inc reflowing the hull and fitting console, suspension seats and outboard and rigged it all too. Now this is a real story

Well said. Trevor G and Rick i am sure can sleep safe in the knowledge people are not thinking bad things about them. They did it themselves for themselves and completed what was "a challenge". I for one am impressed and would love to do it with my children in years to come.

Others however, must have thick skin or not care, as long as the bubble they live in sounds and looks impressive, no matter how it is created. It would appear other families raise a small fortune by any means possible so their "special one" can do very exciting things, with some corporate sponsorship in some cases, (providing they bend the truth in a number of ways) and then just make up stuff to make it sound even more impressive.

I just hope above all else that ALL money raised by a certain individual actually makes it to Charities and that those "Charities" are proper ones!

[MustRib]

Originally Posted by willk

That IS a huge sum, very impressive, even more impressive than his race, I mean, Challenge victory. Do we know who the lucky charities are?

His Facebook page says they are
RNLI, Great Ormond Street & No More Traffic.